EVERY SPIRIT THAT CONFESSETH NOT THAT JESUS CHRIST IS COME Luke ii. 36 And there was one Anna, a-prophetess, the-daughter of-Phanuel, of the-tribe of-Aser:" she was of a-great age, and-had-lived with an-husband seven years from her 37 virginity; and she was a-widow of-about fourscore-and-four years, which departed 38 not from the temple, but-served God with-fastings and prayers night and day. she coming-in that instant αυτῃ τῇ ὥρᾳ gave-thanks-likewise ανθωμολογειτο unto-the Lord, and spake of him to-all them that-looked-for redemption in Jerusalem. MARGINAL READINGS:- Happy, or prosperous. b Absented not herself. SCRIPTURE ILLUSTRATIONS. And 36. Anna-grace.' Phanuel-face of God'-same and obtain, are the truly blessed or happy, Mt. v. as Ge. xxxii. 30- Jacob called the name of the place | 3-12, § 19; 2 Co. iv. 6. Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.' Asher-happy or blessed,' Ge. xxx. 13-salvation, through the redeeming blood, is of grace, Ep. ii. 7, 8 -obtained in answer to earnest, persevering prayer, like that of Jacob when he obtained the name of Israel, Ge. xxxii. 24-.8; Is. xliii. 22, .5, .6; Ho. xii. 3-6-those who, sensible of their poverty, thus seek 38. looked for redemption in Jerusalem-' waited for him,' Is. xxv. 9-blessed all they,' xxx. 18-ye shall be comforted in Jerusalem,' lxvi. 13; Ps. exviii.confirm., 1 Th. i. 10; He. ix. 28; Tit. ii. 13, .4- O Jerusalem, Jerusalem,... ye shall not see me henceforth till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord,' Mt. xxiii. 37, .9, § 85. NOTES. 36. Anna. The same with Hannah, signifying Grace, or gracious.' The daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher: she had been early married, and lived seven years with her husband. After his death, she devoted herself to the service of God, and at every morning and evening sacrifice attended to pour forth her prayers. Phanuel. Face of God.'-See Ge. xxxii. 29, 30. A prophetess. One endued with the χαρισμα, οι spiritual grace of uttering divine revelations; or, in a general way, one to whom God reveals himself by his Spirit. As there were prophetesses before Christ -as Miriam, Deborah, and Huldah-so this 'Anna' after; and afterwards four of Philip's daughters. Of the tribe of Aser. The tribe of Aser, or Asher, dwelt in the northern part of the land of Canaan. 37. Fastings and prayers. Constant religious service. Spending her time in prayer, and in all the ordinances of religion. Night and day. Continually, i. e., at the usual times of public worship, and in private. When it is said that she departed not from the temple, it is meant that she was constant and regular in all the public services at the temple. There were occasionally night services of sacred music. 38. Coming in. At the time Simeon uttered the above words. Gave thanks, &c. Returned praises to the Lord. PRACTICAL REFLECTIONS. 36, .7 ver. Let us, with Anna, seek in self-denial and prayer the face of God, that we may be happy ourselves in the heart-possession of his grace, and so be able to exhibit to others the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 38 ver. Let us, with Anna, both give thanks unto the Lord for the gift of his Son, and before men confess Him, through whom alone redemption can be looked for. And let us not forget that the mouth of the Lord's handmaiden was more especially opened to those who looked for redemption in Jerusalem.' GEOGRAPHICAL NOTICE. BETHLEHEM.-(Sig. 'House of Bread,') anciently Ephrath. In Arabic, Beit Lahm, House of Flesh.' Is called Bethlehem of Judæa,' to distinguish it from a city of the same name in the tribe of Zebulun. Is perhaps the earliest Scripture town with which the rightly trained infant mind is acquainted. The babe of Bethlehem is ever contemplated, in infancy, with delight. The first beam of hope for future bliss is ever associated with Bethlehem of Judæa. Its earliest notice by the sacred historian is Ge. xxxv. 16-20, when Jacob was bereaved of his beloved Rachel. And Rachel died, and was buried in the way to Ephrath, which is Bethlehem. And Jacob set a pillar upon her grave: that is the pillar of Rachel's grave unto this day.' This history is plaintively touched again by Jacob, when preparing to be gathered to his fathers, Ge. xlviii. 7, And as for me, when I came from Padan, Rachel died by me in the land of Canaan in the way, when yet there was but a little way to come unto Ephrath: and I buried her there in the way of Ephrath; the same is Bethlehem.' This spot, in the way from Jerusalem to Bethlehem, about one mile from the latter place, on the right, at a little distance from the road, is still an object of much Muslim veneration: the small square building of stone with a dome, and within it tomb in the ordinary Muhammedan form, the whole plastered over with mortar, is kept in order by the Muhammedans: and those of Bethlehem were formerly accustomed to bury around it. The touching story of the devoted Ruth to her widowed and childless mother, and the tender sympathy of the benevolent Boaz, the progenitor of king David, have Bethlehem for their locality.-See Ruth. In the fields of Bethlehem David kept his father's sheep.-See 1 Sa. xvi. 11-.3. There too, in a deep valley on the east of Bethlehem, still exists the refreshing well, so ardently longed for by Israel's king, as he lay concealed, with IN THE FLESH IS NOT OF GOD. 1 John iv. 3. 400 faithful followers, in Adullam's cave.-See (2 Sa. Bethlehem is called the city of David,' Lu. ii. 4, because it was the place of his birth. God put special honour upon it, in bringing to pass there his ancient prophecy, (see Mi. v. 2;) and making it the birthplace of his own dear Son, whom he gave for the sin of the world. From this circumstance, pilgrims and tourists to the Holy Land, of every creed and from every clime, look upon their visit to Bethlehem among the most interesting incidents of Eastern travel. The road to Bethlehem, from 'Solomon's pools,' which are about 6 miles to the south, is extremely rugged, shut in on both sides by hills, sometimes quite bare, and at others covered with low prickly shrubs and slender herbage: an abrupt bending of the pass gives the first glimpse of the town, which soon again disappears in the winding of the path. At length, crossing a somewhat level plain, the ascent of the rocky path is begun, by which the elevated site of Bethlehem is approached; and looking back and around, naturally and mentally are vividly repre • Dr. Clarke describes it as containing pure and delicious water. Dr. Robinson says, That to which the monks give the name of the "Well of David," is about half or three quarters of a mile N. by E. of Bethlehem, beyond the deep valley which the village overlooks: which was dry when we saw it.' WE LOVE HIM, BECAUSE HE FIRST LOVED US.-1 John iv. 19. [27 CONSIDER THE WORK OF GOD: FOR WHO CAN MAKE sented the hills, the plains, and the birth-place, where the royal shepherd boy and sweet psalmist of Israel, the princely David, had wandered with his flocks, and with every peak and slope of which his eye had been familiar. The hills in the vicinity are terraced, and vines and figs abound. The towers in the vineyards are numerous, and remind one of Ca. ii. 15, Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes. Near the top of the hill, it is said, you come upon the well of Bethlehem, that is at the gate. It is protected by a piazza of four small arches, under which the water is drawn up through two apertures.'*And to this well may be seen the women of the city coming out to draw water, bearing their earthen vessels upon their heads: their figures easy and graceful, as their flowing drapery casts its long folds about them.' 'Delicate complexions, united to the ever-brilliant Eastern eye, distinguish them from all other Arab women; while the finely cut lips, thin, but vermillion bright, and a Grecian profile, distinguish them from the Jewish race.' The The city occupies a commanding position, on the E. and N.E. slope of a long ridge, looking over towards the region of Moab. The substance of the hill is limestone, which, like white marble, reflects the sun's rays, and makes it very painful to the eyes. The winding path of ascent is, in several places, slippery, toilsome, and difficult. The hill on which the city stands is terraced in all directions, and planted with fine healthy olive and fig trees. On the south side it is very steep. The fig trees, olives, and pomegranates, and the ripe barley fields which cover the north side, shew that it is still capable of being made what its name imports, The House of Bread. aspect of the town itself is poor. Its buildings are in the usual style, square and rude, and finished with small domes. It is a saddening thought, while entering within the walls of Bethlehem, that the crescent of Mahomet gleams over the spot where the wondrous star guided to the humbled presence of the incarnate God; and that Christianity is there but a tolerated, a permitted, a despised thing. The present population is about 3,000, and nominally Christian, which arises from the circumstance of Ibrahim Pacha, a Mussulman, driving out the Arab population, who defended the place for the sultan, in the rebellion of 1834, against his attacks; and spared the Christians, as he said, because they had been guilty of no offence. The inhabitants chiefly subsist by agriculture, and by making crucifixes, beads, models of the Holy Sepulchre, &c., in olive wood, palm, and mother-of-pearl, which are highly valued and eagerly purchased by the devout visiters. The monks of Bethlehemn claim the exclusive privilege of marking the limbs and bodies of pilgrims who choose to submit to the operation, with crosses, stars, and monograms,by means of gunpowder. This is a very ancient practice, and, like other superstitions, may be traced to the religious customs of the heathen nations. The town has gates at the entrance of some of the streets. The main street is steep, narrow, gloomy, and dirty. To the east of Bethlehem, not much more than a mile and a half distant, is the village traditionally said to be that in which the shepherds dwelt, to whom was made the supernatural announcement of Messiah's birth. It is approached by a steep descending road, with fig and olive trees scattered on every side. The soil is very white and chalky. It is inhabited by Greek and Latin Christians. Is miserably dilapidated, in poverty and wretchedness. Many of the inhabitants were engaged in thrashing and winnowing corn. Passing downwards from the village, a view presents itself of the spot, where it is said the shepherds heard that heavenly minstrelsy, which still sounds forth sweetly from the pages of inspiration. It is carefully enclosed with a rough stone wall, and covered with numerous olive trees of vigorous growth and considerable age. In the midst of the enclosure is a small grotto-chapel. It contains a rude altar, and the usual pictorial appendages. Of the road from Jerusalem to Bethlehem, a nodern traveller writes, Across the plain of Rephaim to Bethlehem is about five miles; and the way lies, for the most part, over arid and dreary hills, with here and there a scanty crop of wheat in the intervening valleys; and an occasional herd of goats browsing invisible herbage, under the guardianship of a herdsman as shaggy as his flock, and as brown and almost as bare as the rocks around him.' Occasionally we catch glimpses of the wild mountain scenery that wraps the Dead sea in its barren bosom. No other landscape in the world is like this. It resembles rather some visionary sketch roughly done in raw sienna, than anything in nature; distorted piles of cinderous hills, with that Dead sea lying among them like melted lead, unlighted, even by the sunshine that is pouring so vertically down as to cast no shadow. After passing the convent of Mar Elyas upon the left, and the tomb of Rachel in a valley on the right, the scenery becomes more attractive: some olive groves, interningled with small vineyards, clothe the hills; rich corn-fields are in the valleys: and, lo! as we round a rugged projection in the path, BETHLEHEM stands before us. This little city, as it is called by courtesy, has an imposing appearance; walled round, and commanding a fertile valley from a rugged eminence.'-(Continued, Sect. v.) ADDEND A. 'Book,' p. 23. Book. In Latin Liber, in Hebrew Sepher, in Greek Biblos. Several sorts of materials were used formerly in making books. Plates of lead and copper, the barks of trees, bricks, stone, and wood, were the first matters employed to engrave such things and monuments upon as men were willing to have transmitted to posterity. The letters which Rabshakeh delivered from Sennacherib to Hezekiah, are called a book. The contract which Jeremiah confirmed for the purchase of a field, is called by the same name. Ähasuerus' edict in favour of the Jews is likewise called a book. Job writes, that his judge or his adversary would himself write his sentence. The writing likewise which a man gave to his wife when he divorced her, was called a book of divorce. tables of lead; the Roman laws on twelve tables of brass: Solon's on wood; and those of God on stone, probably marble. In very ancient times the Persians and Ionians wrote on skins. When Attalus formed his library, about A. M. 3770, he either invented or improved parchment. This, when written on, was either sewed together in long rolls, and written only on one side, in the manner of the copy of the law now used in the Jewish synagogues; or, it was formed in the manner of our books. Some Indian books are extant, written on leaves of the Malabar palm-tree. Books now, and for about five hundred years backward, have been generally written on linen paper. The book of the Lord is either the scriptures, Is. xxxiv. 16; or his purpose, wherein every thing is regulated and fixed, Ps. cxxxix. 16; Rev. v. 1, and x. 2; or his providential care and support of men's natural life, Ex. xxxii. 32; Ps. lxix. 28; or his omniscient observation and fixed remembrance of things, Ps. lvi. 8: Mal. iii. 16. Men's conscience is like to a book; it records whatever they have done.. The opening of the books at the last day denotes the manifestation of the purposes and words of God, and the exact procedure in judgment, according to divine purposes, laws, and real facts, Rev. xx. 12. Christ's opening the sealed book, imports his pre-declaration and exact fulfilment of the purposes of God, relative to the New Testament church, Rev. v. 5, 6, and viii. I. Book, a written register of events, or declaration of doctrines and laws, Ge. v. 1; Est. vi. 1. The books of Moses are the most ancient in being; nor does it appear that any were written before them. Josephus says, the children of Seth, before the flood, wrote. their discoveries in arts, and in astronomy and other sciences, upon two pillars; the one of stone, to withstand a deluge; and the other of brick, to endure a conflagration: but the obscurity of his narrative, and the want of concurring evidence, render his account very suspicious. Moses' books are called the book of the law; and a copy of Deuteronomy, if not the whole of them, was laid up in some repository of the ark, De. xxxi. 26. Hesiod's works were written on * Dr. Robinson thinks these to be only openings over an aqueduct, which here passes through a sort of deep vault or reservoir, from which the water is drawn up about twenty feet. + Paxton calls it that black sea.' 28 DO NOT ALL GO TO ONE PLACE?-Eccles. vi. 6. THAT STRAIGHT, WHICH HE HATH MADE CROOKED ?-Eccles. vii. 13. JONAH I. Now the word of the LORD came unto Jonah (called, Mt. xii. 39, Jonas] the son of Amittai, 2 saying, Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me. 3 But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. 4 But the LORD sent out a great wind into the sea, and there was a mighty tempest in the sea, so that the 5 ship was like to be broken. Then the mariners were afraid, and cried every man unto his god, and cast forth. the wares that were in the ship into the sea, to lighten it of them. But Jonah was gone down into the sides 6 of the ship; and he lay, and was fast asleep. So the shipmaster came to him, and said unto him, What meanest thou, O sleeper? arise, call upon thy God, if so be that God will think upon us, that we perish not. 7 And they said every one to his fellow, Come, and let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this. evil is upon us. So they cast lots, and the lot fell 8 upon Jonah. Then said they unto him, Tell us, we pray thee, for whose cause this evil is upon us; What is thine occupation? and whence comest thou? what is thy country? and of what people art thou? 9 And he said unto them, I am an Hebrew; and I fear the LORD or, JEHOVAH], the God of heaven, which 10 hath made the sea and the dry land. Then were the men exceedingly afraid, and said unto him, Why hast thou done this? For the men knew that he fled from the presence of the LORD, because he had told them. 11 Then said they unto him, What shall we do unto thee, that the sea may be calm unto us? for the sea 12 wrought, and was tempestuous. And he said unto them, Take me up, and cast me forth into the sea; so shall the sea be calm unto you: for I know that for 13 my sake this great tempest is upon you. Nevertheless the men rowed hard to bring it to the land; but they could not for the sea wrought, and was tempestu14 ous against them. Wherefore they cried unto the LORD, and said, We beseech thee, O LORD, we beseech thee, let us not perish for this man's life, and lay not upon us innocent blood: for thou, O LORD, hast done 15 as it pleased thee. So they took up Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea: and the sea ceased from her 16 raging. Then the men feared the LORD exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice unto the LORD, and made vows. JONAH II. Then Jonah prayed unto the LORD his 2 God out of the fish's belly, and said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the LORD, and he heard me; out of the belly of hell [or, the grave] cried I, 3 and thou heardest my voice. For thou hadst cast me into the deep, in the midst of the seas; and the floods. compassed me about: all thy billows and thy waves 4 passed over me. Then I said, I am cast out of thy sight; yet I will look again toward thy holy temple. 5 The waters compassed me about, even to the soul: the depth closed me round about, the weeds were 6 wrapped about my head. I went down to the bottoms of the mountains; the earth with her bars was about me for ever: yet hast thou brought up my life. 7 from corruption [or, the pit], O LORD my God. When my soul fainted within me I remembered the LORD: and my prayer came in unto thee, into thine holy 8 temple. They that observe lying vanities forsake 9 their own mercy. But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that I have Vowed. Salvation is of the LORD. 10 And the LORD spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land. JONAH III. And the word of the LORD came unto 2 Jonah the second time, saying, Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preach3 ing that I bid thee. So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city of three days' 4 journey. And Jonah began to enter into the city a day's journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown. by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying. Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing: 8 let them not feed, nor drink water: but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands. 9 Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not? 10 And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not. JONAH IV. But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, 2 and he was very angry. And he prayed unto the LORD, and said, I pray thee, O LORD, was not this my saying, when I was yet in my country? Therefore I fled before unto Tarshish: for I knew that thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repentest thee of the evil. 3 Therefore now, O LORD, take, I beseech thee, my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live. 4 Then said the LORD, Doest thou well to be angry? 5 So Jonah went out of the city, and sat on the east side of the city, and there made him a booth, and sat under it in the shadow, till he might see what would 6 become of the city. And the LORD God prepared a gourd, and made it to come up over Jonah, that it might be a shadow over his head, to deliver him from his grief. So Jonah was exceeding glad of the gourd. 7 But God prepared a worm when the morning rose the next day, and it smote the gourd that it withered. 8 And it came to pass, when the sun did arise, that God prepared a vehement [or, silent] east wind; and the sun beat upon the head of Jonah, that he fainted, and wished in himself to die, and said, It is better for me 9 to die than to live. And God said to Jonah, Doest thou well to be angry for the gourd? And he said, I 10 do well to be angry, even unto death. Then said the LORD, Thou hast had pity on the gourd, for the which thou hast not laboured, neither madest it grow; which 11 came up in a night, and perished in a night: and should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle? GENESIS XIII. And Abram went up out of Egypt, ne, and his wife, and all that he had, and Lot with 2 him, into the south. And Abram was very rich in 3 cattle, in silver, and in gold. And he went on his journeys from the south even to Beth-el, unto the place where his tent had been at the beginning, be4 tween Beth-el and Hai; unto the place of the altar, which he had made there at the first: and there Abram called on the name of the LORD. 5 And Lot also, which went with Abram, had flocks, 6 and herds, and tents. And the land was not able to bear them, that they might dwell together: for their substance was great, so that they could not dwell 7 together. And there was a strife between the herdmen of Abram's cattle and the herdmen of Lot's cattle: and the Canaanite and the Perizzite dwelled 8 then in the land. And Abram said unto Lot, Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, and between my herdmen and thy herdmen; for we be 9 brethren. Is not the whole land before thee? separate thyself, I pray thee, from me: if thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if thou depart to the right hand, then I will go to the left. And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered every where, before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, as 11 thou comest unto Zoar. Then Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan; and Lot journeyed east: and they 12 separated themselves the one from the other. Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tent toward Sodom. 13 But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the LORD exceedingly. 14 10 And the LORD said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and south15 ward, and eastward, and westward: for all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed 16 for ever. And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered. 17 Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee. 18 Then Abram removed his tent, and came and dwelt in the plain of Mamre, which is in Hebron, and built there an altar unto the LORD. JOEL III. For, behold, in those days, and in that time, when I shall bring again the captivity of Judah 2 and Jerusalem, I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among 3 the nations, and parted my land. And they have cast lots for my people; and have given a boy for an harlot, and sold a girl for wine, that they might drink. 4 Yea, and what have ye to do with me, O Tyre, and Zidon, and all the coasts of Palestine? will ye render me a recompence? and if ye recompense me, swiftly and speedily will I return your recompence upon your own 5 head; because ye have taken my silver and my gold, and have carried into your temples my goodly pleasant 6 things the children also of Judah and the children of Jerusalem have ye sold unto the Grecians, that ye 7 might remove them far from their border. Behold, I will raise them out of the place whither ye have sold them, and will return your recompence upon your own 8 head and I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the children of Judah, and they shall sell them to the Sabeans, to a people far off: for the LORD hath spoken it. 9 Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles; Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw 10 near; let them come up: beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruninghooks into spears: let the 11 weak say, I am strong. Assemble yourselves, and come, all ye heathen, and gather yourselves together round about: thither cause thy mighty ones to come 12 down, O LORD. Let the heathen be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat: for there will I 13 sit to judge all the heathen round about. Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: come, get you down; for the press is full, the fats overflow; for their wicked14 ness is great. Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision for the day of the LORD is near in the valley 15 of decision. The sun and the moon shall be darkened, 16 and the stars shall withdraw their shining. The LORD also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but the LORD will be the hope of his people, 17 and the strength of the children of Israel. So shall ye know that I am the LORD your God dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain: then shall Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no strangers pass through her any more. 18 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the rivers of Judah shall flow with waters, and a fountain shall come forth of the house of the LORD, and shall water the valley of 19 Shittim. Egypt shall be a desolation, and Edom shall be a desolate wilderness, for the violence against the children of Judah, because they have shed innocent 20 blood in their land. But Judah shall dwell for ever, 21 and Jerusalem from generation to generation. For I will cleanse their blood that I have not cleansed: for the LORD dwelleth in Zion. AMOS IX. I saw the Lord standing upon the altar: and he said, Smite the lintel of the door, that the posts may shake and cut them in the head, all of them; and I will slay the last of them with the sword: he that fleeth of them shall not flee away, and he that escapeth 2 of them shall not be delivered. Though they dig into hell, thence shall mine hand take them; though they climb up to heaven, thence will I bring them down: 3 and though they hide themselves in the top of Carmel, I will search and take them out thence; and though they be hid from my sight in the bottom of the sea, thence will I command the serpent, and he shall bite 4 them and though they go into captivity before their enemies, thence will I command the sword, and it shall slay them: and I will set mine eyes upon them 5 for evil, and not for good. And the Lord GoD of hosts is he that toucheth the land, and it shall melt, and all that dwell therein shall mourn: and it shall rise up wholly like a flood; and shall be drowned, as by the 6 flood of Egypt. It is he that buildeth his stories in the heaven, and hath founded his troop in the earth; he that caileth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth: The LORD is his 7 name. Are ye not as children of the Ethiopians unto me, O children of Israel? saith the LORD. Have not I brought up Israel out of the land of Egypt? and the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Syrians from Kir? 8 Behold, the eyes of the Lord GoD are upon the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from off the face of the earth; saving that I will not utterly destroy the house 9 of Jacob, saith the LORD. For, lo, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations, like as corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least 10 grain fall upon the earth. All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword, which say, The evil shall not overtake nor prevent us. 11 In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the 12 days of old: that they may possess the remnant of Edom, and of all the heathen, which are called by my 13 name, saith the LORD that doeth this. Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed; and the mountains shall drop sweet 14 wine, and all the hills shall melt. And I will bring again the captivity of my people of Israel, and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; they shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of 15 them. And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given them, saith the LORD thy God. ZECHARIAH IX. The burden of the word of the LORD in the land of Hadrach, and Damascus shall be the rest thereof: when the eyes of man, as of all the 2 tribes of Israel, shall be toward the LORD. And Hamath also shall border thereby; Tyrus, and Zidon, 3 though it be very wise. And Tyrus did build herself a strong hold, and heaped up silver as the dust, and 4 fine gold as the mire of the streets. Behold, the LORD will cast her out, and he will smite her power in the 5 sea; and she shall be devoured with fire. Ashkelon shall see it, and fear; Gaza also shall see it, and be very sorrowful, and Ekron; for her expectation shall be ashamed; and the king shall perish from Gaza, and 6 Ashkelon shall not be inhabited. And a bastard shall dwell in Ashdod, and I will cut off the pride of the 7 Philistines. And I will take away his blood out of his mouth, and his abominations from between his teeth: but he that remaineth, even he, shall be for our God, and he shall be as a governor in Judah, and Ekron as 8 a Jebusite. And I will encamp about mine house because of the army, because of him that passeth by, and because of him that returneth: and no oppressor shall pass through them any more: for now have I seen with mine eyes. 9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; snout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass. 10 And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow shall be cut off: and he shall speak peace unto the heathen: and his dominion shall be from sea even to sea, and from 11 the river even to the ends of the earth. As for thee also, by the blood of thy covenant I have sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit wherein is no water. 12 Turn you to the strong hold, ye prisoners of hope: even to-day do I declare that I will render double unto 13 thee; when I have bent Judah for me, filled the bow with Ephraim, and raised up thy sons, O Zion, against thy sons, O Greece, and made thee as the sword of a 14 mighty man. And the LORD shall be seen over them, and his arrow shall go forth as the lightning: and the Lord Gop shall blow the trumpet, and shall go with 15 whirlwinds of the south. The LORD of hosts shall defend them; and they shall devour, and subdue with sling stones; and they shall drink, and make a noise as through wine; and they shall be filled like bowls, 16 and as the corners of the altar. And the LORD their God shall save them in that day as the flock of his people: for they shall be as the stones of a crown, lifted 17 up as an ensign upon his land. For how great is his goodness, and how great is his beauty! corn shall make the young men cheerful, and new wine the maids. ZECHARIAH X. 1-6. 1, Ask ye of the LORD rain in the time of the latter rain; so the LORD shall make bright clouds, and give them showers of rain, to every 2 one grass in the field. For the idols have spoken vanity, and the diviners have seen a lie, and have told false dreams; they comfort in vain: therefore they went their way as a flock, they were troubled, because 3 there was no shepherd. Mine anger was kindled against the shepherds, and I punished the goats: for the LORD of hosts hath visited his flock the house of Judah, and hath made them as his goodly horse in the 4 battle. Out of him came forth the corner, out of him the nail, out of him the battle bow, out of him every oppressor together. And I 5 And they shall be as mighty men, which tread down their enemies in the mire of the streets in the battle: and they shall fight, because the LORD is with them, 6 and the riders on horses shall be confounded. will strengthen the house of Judah, and I will save the house of Joseph, and I will bring them again to place them; for I have mercy upon them: and they shall be as though I had not cast them off: for I am the LORD their God, and will hear them. HEREIN IS LOVE, NOT THAT WE LOVED GOD, BUT THAT HE LOVED US, ADDENDA-(continued). ON THE TIME OF OUR SAVIOUR'S BIRTH. The year of our Saviour's birth, was U.C. 750, B.C. 4; and the passover was celebrated in that year, on April 10: that is to say, the fourteenth unspor of Nisan, on which the passover was always slain, coincided with the interval between sunset April 9, and sunset April 10. If so, the tenth yehuepov of Nisan, which began and expired four days before the fourteenth, began at sunset April 5, and expired at sunset April 6. The tenth of Nisan, then, U.C. 750, coincided partly with April 5, and partly with April 6. April 5, therefore, or April 6, must express the day of our Saviour's birth; the former, if he was born on the evening of the tenth of Nisan; the latter, if he was born on the morning. From the narrative of St. Luke, who only of the Evangelists has given any account of the circumstances of our Saviour's birth, especially from ii. 8, 9, 11, though the fact is not expressly asserted, yet it is plainly to be inferred, that the Nativity took place on the evening of some Jewish day; either in the night time as such, or after sunset at least. Sunset, on April 5 or 6, U.C. 750, thirteen or fourteen days later than the vernal equinox, would not take place earlier than 6, 30, in the evening; and the tenth of Nisan, which would begin with sunset, would begin with 6, 30, in the evening also. If our Saviour, then, was born in the evening of a Jewish day, and born on the tenth of Nisan, he was born on the night of April 5, or the morning of April 6: if he had been born in the evening, and born on the sixth of April, he would have been born on the eleventh of the Jewish Nisan. It may be difficult to decide between these two days, each of which, apparently, possesses an equal right to be pronounced the true birthday of Christ; for the evening of the same Jewish day coincided in part with both. I assume, however, for the present, that the date of our Saviour's birth, if it was Nisan the tenth, in a lunar Jewish year answering to U.C. 750, was April 5 in the solar or Julian, answering to the same year, on which the tenth of Nisan at that time began. For subsequent years, therefore, the tenth of Nisan will express the nominal, and the fifth of April the actual, birthday of Christ; but the tenth of Nisan will never express the actual date of the Nativity, unless it coincides with the fifth of April also. Let us now consider on what days in subsequent years, more especially in the three years of our Lord's personal ministry, this tenth of Nisan would fall. These days may be immediately obtained from the Table of passovers, vol. II. Diss. vii. p. 331. I. U.C. 780, A. D. 27, the fourteenth vehuepov of Nisan began at sunset April 8, and expired at sunset April 9: and, consequently, the tenth vuxenuepov of Nisan began at sunset April 4, and expired at sunset April 5. II. U.C. 781, A.D. 28, the fourteenth of Nisan began at sunset March 28, and expired at sunset March 29; and, consequently, the tenth of Nisan began at sunset March 24, and expired at sunset March 25. III. U.C. 782, A.D. 29, the fourteenth of Nisan began at sunset April 15, and expired at sunset April 16; and, consequently, the tenth of Nisan began at sunset April 11, and expired at sunset April 12. IV. U.C. 783, A.D. 30, the fourteenth of Nisan began at sunset April 4, and expired at sunset April 5; and, consequently, the tenth of Nisan began at sunset March 31, and expired at sunset April 1. It appears, then, that U.C. 780, the year when our Lord began his ministry, the tenth of Nisan and the fifth of April, that is, his nominal and his real birthday, coincided together, as they had done in the year of his birth: but in no other year of his ministry besides. It appears, also, that U.C. 783, the year when he concluded his ministry, the fourteenth of Nisan, the day on which our Saviour suffered, coincided with April 5, the day upon which he was born.-(See Sect. 67.)-Greswell, vol. 1. Diss. xii. pp. 401-.4. tinction is conferred, during his lifetime, on any feast but the passover; nor, after his resurrection, on any but the feast of Pentecost. The feast of Tabernacles, in particular, has nothing to render it memorable either before or after. He began his ministry at one passover, and he ended it at another; and if he ever visited Jerusalem at stated times, it was at the passovers between. It is just as probable that he would be born at one passover, as that he would suffer at another: and if the paschal lamb was the most expressive type (furnished by the symbolical sacrifices of the Law) of the great Christian sacrifice, it was not less agreeable to the analogy of the type, that the true Paschal Victim should have been born at one passover, than that he should have suffered at another.'-Ibid., p. 386. 'The two sacrifices under the Law, the daily sacrifice of morning and evening, and the sacrifice of the fourteenth of Nisan, which are unquestionably the liveliest emblems of the sacrifice of Christ-the one of its perpetual, the other of its universal, efficacy,were both required to be made with a lamb, or at least, in the case of the latter, with a kid instead of a lamb. Concerning this requisition, see Maimonides, De Rat. Sacrif. i. 14. This requisition was not peculiar to other sacrifices, numerous as they were: nor would it be easy to assign a reason why it should have been peculiar to the two most Evangelical of the legal ordinances, except by supposing that Christ, as soon as, in the integrity of our nature and substance, he came into the world, was virtually the true dedexis evoia of morning and evening prayer, and the true spiritual antitype designed by the paschal victim. And Christ, when he came into the world, came as a child: and, though he suffered as a man, yet in all those qualities, which rendered his sacrifice of himself acceptable to God, and which especially were adumbrated by the properties of the typical victim-in meekness, simplicity, and innocence-he continued ever a child.'-Ibid., p. 388. At the original institution of the passover, it was commanded, the lamb, to be offered on the fourteenth, should be taken up and set apart for that purpose, on the tenth of the same month; 4 days before its sacrifice. The reason of this provision does not appear: but, if we were to conjecture that, in the fulness of time, the birth of our Saviour was to happen on the tenth of Nisan, as it is certain that his death was to happen on the fourteenth, we should assign a reason which would explain it at once, and be entirely in unison with what has been proved respecting the period of the nativity in general.'-Ibid., p. 389.-See § 82, On Jesus presenting himself in the temple. I advance it, therefore, as a conjecture which to plous minds may not appear improbable, (though it must still be received as a conjecture,) that the true day of our Saviour's birth, and, consequently, the true date of the nativity, is the tenth of the Jewish Nisan. The Paschal Chronicon assigns this date to the fact of the Annunciation; and tradition may so far have blended, in this instance, as well as in others, error with truth, as to have confounded the day of the birth with the day of the supposed conception of Christ. It would follow that the Baptist, who was born six months before Christ, might be born on the tenth of Tisri, or about the feast of Tabernacles; which, however, must be received as even a more conjectural date than the other. Yet there would be occasion, from this coincidence also, to admire the economy of the Divine Providence in causing one, designed by his office not merely to be the precursor of the Messias, but a preacher of repentance and dikatoσurns, was not only to preach, but also to prac righteousness-one who by coming and acting, èv dd tise the lessons of his preaching-to be born at this season of the year in general, if not on this day in particular.'-Ibid., p. 390. There is no fact in the subsequent history of our Saviour, whether more or less remote, which is not altogether consistent with this first and cardinal point in the whole-that he was born about the All the cardinal points, in the transaction of our vernal equinox. I have proved thus much of the Lord's part in the Christian scheme, are determined time of the commencement, and of the time of the to the vernal, and not to the autumnal, quarter of close of his ministry; and of his age at the first of the year; or, what is the same thing, to the passover, those points, and the duration of his ministry preand not to the feast of Tabernacles. No special dis-viously, at the other.'-Ibid., p. 391. WE OUGHT ALSO TO LOVE ONE ANOTHER.-1 John iv. 11. 29 AND SENT HIS SON TO BE THE PROPITIATION FOR OUR SINS.-1 John iv. 10. |